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Coach Allen Wednesday

Head Coach Dennis Allen took questions from the media after Wednesday's bye week practice.

On what they accomplished in last two days: “We had two good days of work. Our guys were focused in, attentive in trying to get better and that’s what you try to do on the bye week. They’re going to go finish up with their meetings and take some time off. I told them to take some time off and relax and reflect and be ready to come back with a smile on their face ready to go to work on Monday to get ready for Atlanta.”

On still having fun playing football: “There’s fun and there’s a sense of purpose. It’s a game and you’re supposed to have fun playing the game, but it’s also a business and we’ve got a job to do. Our guys realize that and nobody takes it any harder than the coaches and players in this organization. We understand that we’ve got a job to do. We understand what’s at stake and we take that job seriously.”

On if there is a danger in taking a loss too hard: “Yeah, because you have a long season and so you can’t dwell on the negative. You’ve got to rebound. You have to put that one behind you and you have to learn from the mistakes and don’t commit the same mistakes again. But we’ve got to move forward and that’s the only way we’ve got a chance to turn this thing around is continue to move forward.”

On strength and conditioning coach Al Miller: “Your strength and conditioning coach spends a lot of time with the players, probably more than anybody else within the organization because they’re down there all the time working out, especially during the off-season. I felt it was important to get a guy that I know is a Hall of Fame strength coach. He’s done it at the highest level. And I know from working with him and working with players that have worked with him, he’s very highly respected among his peers and among the players. So he was an important hire for us and he’s done a great job.”

On evaluating everything: “The process has begun and we’re going to continue to evaluate it. The players are going to be off, but the coaches are still going to have some time to work. We’re continuing to look at every phase of what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, who’s doing it and we’re going to put the plan together that we feel like gives us the best opportunity to win.”

On where they are in the evaluation process: “We’re in the middle somewhere.”

On what they want to improve for Atlanta: “We understand what we’ve got to do. We understand who we’re going up against. We understand that when we come back, we’ve got to be full tilt ready for Atlanta. The biggest area of improvement that we have to make on offense, on defense is third down improvement and that’s been a big focus for us this week. It’ll continue to be a big focus for us and we’ve got to find ways to convert on third down and get off the field on third down defensively.”

On Darrius Heyward-Bey: “He looked fine. He’s not quite fully back, but obviously, there’s been a lot of improvement so that’s encouraging.”

On practice participation: “Richard Seymour was excused for personal reasons.”

On if Heyward-Bey will be back for Atlanta: “We’re hopeful that he’s going to be ready to go next week.”

On if coaches get any time off for bye week: “We’ll take a little bit of time. It’s a long season so we we’ve got to be ready to finish out this last 12-game stretch. But the most important thing we’ve got to do is make sure we’re ready to go when the players get back here for Atlanta.”

On possible lineup changes: “Anything is a possibility so we’ll continue to look at that and we’ll see where we’re at next week.”

On if they’ve thought about getting Terrelle Pryor involved: “Yeah, I don’t know. We’ll look at that. We’ve still got some time before we have to play Atlanta, so that’ll be something we’ll look at. I don’t know if that’s in our plans right now.”

On if Andre Carter will play in next game: “He had two good days of practice this week, so he’s getting closer to getting ready.”

On if they’re supporting the Oakland Athletics: “We’ve obviously paid attention to them and I know they have a chance to win the division so we wish them well and hope for the best for them.”